If you mess this part up in your draft, you’re toast

All off-season, there are debates, arguments, and hot takes about who should go #1 in drafts or which alpha WR1 should you target first.

These convos are fun because they’re about the very best dudes. The guys everyone has heard of.

But the real action starts when the board goes haywire. The stars are gone. The rankings disagree. Your league mates start reaching.

The Mid-Round Trap

Rounds 5-12 are where it starts (and often continues) to get weird. This is where some teams are drafting for need, some are going best player available, some have totally lost the thread, and you’re hopefully there sniping every piece of value available.

It’s where the sleepers sit, where RB-by-committees take shape, and where future WR1s are waiting to be drafted.

Guys like Brian Thomas and Chase Brown? On the Blueprint radar last year (they’re 2nd and 3rd round guys this time around).

Why Most Fantasy Players Screw This Up

The mid-rounds aren’t just unpredictable. They’re full of traps.

Your fellow league mates are:

• Drafting for name recognition.

  They see a guy who used to be a big name—he’s sitting there in Round 8—and the brain screams “steal!” But his role changed, he’s not the same player, or the team dynamic is totally different.

• Ignoring positional runs or value drops.

  Someone missed out on the last startable RB in a tier and now it’s reach city. Or someone’s loading up on WRs while a legit mid-round QB with upside is staring them in the face.

• Thinking “safe” instead of upside.

  No one is winning a league with a 9th-round WR4 who averages 9 PPR points per week. You need breakout shots in this range.

The Blueprint is built to help you dominate these rounds, not get lost in them.

Target These Players in the Mid-Rounds

Like last season, let’s get locked in on some guys in this range.

✅ Jordan Mason → MIN went out and traded for him, averaged 106 yards per game when he earned 50%+ snaps last year, now RB2 in a strong offense behind 30-year-old Aaron Jones.

✅ Jakobi Meyers → QB upgrade, no serious competition brought in, quietly was a Top 15 WR last season down the stretch as the WR1 for Vegas

✅ Josh Downs → Top 5 in targets per route run last season, produced when healthy despite awful QB play, if QB play improves even a little, he's a value in Round 9.

Every year, guys like this are hiding in plain sight.

Want a Smarter Mid-Round Draft Strategy?

The Blueprint includes:

✅ Tiered rankings that make pivoting easy

✅ “Want List” & “Avoid List” based on upside, usage, and real value

✅ Advanced stat cheat codes to separate the noise from the signal

→ Download The Fantasy Blueprint now →

The stars go early… but championships are built in the middle rounds.

—Sal